Sparrows in the Pigpen
by Nukumi
Summary: The lines of their destinies chase and curve around each other, almost close enough to touch but never quite. / Drabbles.
1. Fate

**Sparrows in the Pigpen**

**.**

On her way to the battle arena to report in for the chuunin exams, Ino stumbles across three young shinobi training. One is clothed in a hideous green jumpsuit and sporting an equally repulsive bowl haircut, enthusiastically wreaking havoc on a padded tree. Another, a female with elegant twin buns atop her head, is using the third member of their team for target practice. Its is this third person that catches Ino's interest more than the other two.

His eyes are as pale as the moon, hair as dark as the night sky, and he springs and vaults away from the projectiles with all the grace of a feline. It's almost as if he _glides_ on his feet as he moves himself out of the weapons' path.

The female hurls more weapons at him but not a single one connects; none so much as even nick his clothing, and Ino is impressed. She has never seen somebody (much less a boy!) move in a way that is not only agile but borderlining artistic. It's almost irritating. All she's seen him do so far is evasive movements but already she knows his taijutsu surpasses her own. And while she doesn't recognize him from anyone back in the days of Iruka's classroom, he can't be much older than her. Probably the top student from the year before her. As the top academy student of her own year, it's disgraceful to see the disparity between the two of them. Humans are meant to be progressive; each new wave of rookies is supposed to be better than the last. Maybe it was fate that she caught sight of him, here. Fate, like being born a day after Shikamaru and living right next door to Chouji. Fate, like finding the timid Haruno girl and helping her grow into an independent thinker. She has focused so much on her development as part of a team that she has neglected to develop her strengths as an individual; he has shown her this without uttering a single sound.

His gaze catches hers and she holds it a moment before turning away and entering the arena.

**.**

As two gennin from other countries faced off in the battle area, Ino slipped away, taking a stroll around the place to size up the competition. As she navigated the hallway filled with nervous gennin, a dot of pink further down the hall caught Ino's attention. Sakura? Had to be, couldn't have been anyone else with that shade of carnation pink hair. How did she pass the written exam? Ino was sure that, after she'd Shintenshin'd her and did some comparative checking of answers, she'd erased everything Sakura had written. Had the girl really managed to redo all of that work before the testing time ran out? Here in the hallways of the arena, Ino could only conclude that she had. Oh right, Sasuke-kun had fought his match already, of course Team Seven had made it. She'd been so distracted by the Uchiha she'd almost forgotten Sakura was on his team. The beginnings of a frown formed on her face as she made her way to the bathroom in pursuit.

Her one-time best friend and current 'rival' was still washing her hands as Ino slipped in, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.

"You're scared aren't you, Sakura?"

The pinkette glanced up to see her reflected form in the mirror, then promptly ignored her. Ino was not deterred.

"Even Sasuke-kun was carried away. Actually, he was able to get away with minor injuries because it was him fighting. If you fight in these preliminary matches, I can't imagine what will happen. You should quit."

Sakura smoothed her newly-shorn locks back and Ino watched, mentally praying she'd heed her warning and drop out instead of going onward just to prove something to her. Their 'rivalry' wasn't worth Sakura getting hurt; she was always her equal even if she couldn't see that for herself.

"Quit? Who's going to do that?"

Green eyes settled on her, defiant. She walked forward nonchalantly as if to go right by Ino, then stopped. Her challenging tone from seconds ago vanished, replaced with genuine anticipation.

"Actually, I can't wait for my turn."

She passed by and the blonde stared after her back. For Sakura's sake, she hoped her friend didn't get matched up with anyone as strong as the guy with the white eyes.

**.**

In the scene below, two preteens struggled to get the upper hand on one another. One feinted right, then changed direction and charged with a left hook. The other dipped low in a sweeping attack, reaching for their kunai holster. As the other spectators hollered and cheered, Ino watched the match with limited attention. In her head she alternated between anxiety and excitement for her name to come up on the digital board so she could kick butt and hopefully impress the guy who moves like wind. Maybe she wouldn't even have to fight, maybe the random name generator would select a boy as her opponent and she could flirt until his guard was down and she could finish her match in one well-timed move.

The crowd volume rises suddenly and Ino focuses in on the match again, noting that a few matches have gone by because there are two girls in the pit now. The taller one, a slightly older looking blonde with unfashionable bushy pontails, has the brunette bent painfully over what seems to be a large fan. The latter has to be in agonizing pain with such a blow to her spine, and all around the room everyone knows the match is over. Ino's eyes dart impatiently to the digital board.

The characters of her name blink into existence and she nearly whoops with the premature taste of victory. This is her chance! She's pumped and oh-so-ready to start her match. She doesn't recognize the name that pops up beside hers

...but she does recognize the boy who jumps down into the pit.

Her cheer deflates. She looks down to meet his cold gaze and knows intuitively that he will show her no mercy.

Ino doesn't know the future, but in the back of her mind she knows it wasn't supposed to be _this_. Not with the only boy to hold more of her attention than Sasuke.

Her faith in fate shatters.

* * *

**A/N : Because I'm still bitter Sky Full of Pigs got removed.**


	2. Mental

_His chin inadvertantly snapped upward, the mask of indifference slipping off of his face and splintering into thousands of pieces as it collided with the preposterous task he'd just been issued._

_"Excuse me?"_

_The Hokage regarded him with a flat expression, allowing the Hyuuga to get his bearings before answering him in an equally flat tone._

_"I am sure you heard me quite well the first time, Neji. Your efforts in mission A427 were highly commendable, under the conditions. You handled the situation with nothing short of impressive ingenuity and succeeded in bringing the full team home alive. However, effective immediately, I am issuing you a Leave of Absence."_

_Neji's brows knotted as he had trouble finding the reasoning between being praised for his work while simultaneously being forced to take time off._

_"You're suspending me?"_

_"No," the Hokage's voice resounded again, fixing Neji with a look that said he should have known better than to assume such a thing. "You have spent the last three months doing undercover surveillance in Takigakure. You've suffered two months at the hands of Taki's tactitional interrogation squad. Your physical status is subpar, and while I fully appreciate the sacrifices you have made for Konoha in enduring this mission, your currently psychological status is in need of review. Might I remind you that this is standard protocol for these circumstances?"_

_"No, Hokage-sama."_

_"Then you will do as I say. Your name will be stricken from the active duty roster by the hour's end. At 0530 hours, you are to report in to the Interrogation division. You will do so every day until you are cleared for active duty again. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Yes, Hokage-sama."_

**.**

**...**

**.**

"And after the squad left the room? Then what happened?"

Neji's jawline tightened.

"I stared at the southwestern exit and monitored their movements."

The blonde female stared into his eyes, her expression soft but serious as she sat casually on the cushion across from him. Between them stood a low table, and on it their cups of tea and a blue folder that was clearly Hyuuga Neji's personnel file. She pressed onward.

"And what did you think about, as you observed them?"

Anger kindled in him. For just over a week already he had dutifully shown up to these appointments, sat with the Yamanaka girl, and recounted the story of his mission in exquisite detail for her to scrutinize. And scrutinize she did, investigating every nuance with exhaustive thoroughness. The repetitiveness of her questions was beginning to wear on him.

"I thought of killing them." he said plainly, keeping the hardness out of his voice.

Ino gave a shallow nod, and it crossed Neji's mind that today's session just might end a little bit early for once.

"Killing them by what methods?"

Neji was going to scream.

**.**

**...**

**.**

Neji breathed deeply and sat absolutely still as Ino refilled his teacup for the fifth time. He found his eyes catching on the color of her chipped, cotton candy pink nail polish as her hand retracted back across the table and returned to her own cup. Pink today? So often they had been a cream color or a pale lavender. Suddenly, he very much missed the days when it was he who was made to bear the burden of steering their mandatory discussions.

"...And you know that ugly green locker at the end of the blue row with the hinges that look like they've rusted shut? Well, when Tsujihara got into that fight with Shima and slammed him up against the lockers, it busted open and..."

He had come to reach a lot of revelations since the first day he set foot in the Torture and Interrogation building. Had come to understand much, much more than he initially thought he knew since his first two hour session with the girl who juggled a medical career, botany, and shinobihood as if the three were one profession. The first of these revelations was that, in this room, control was nothing but an illusion.

He had spent the first three weeks of their meetings rehashing the mission until he had run out of information to surrender.

_"And?"_

_"And nothing. That's everything. What else do you want me to tell you?"_

_"What else do you want to tell me, Hyuuga-san?"_

And then and there, he'd realized that he had a choice. He realized that Ino only ever asked him about _things he'd already mentioned_, she never asked him to supply additional information. And every question she asked was directed at not what he did, but what he'd _felt_ and the things he'd thought. Gradually, without him noticing, he'd told her more and more about what he'd experienced. Sometimes his own words surprised him, not having given thought to his reactions to certain incidents until the words had already escaped his mouth. The minute difference between reciting facts and sharing how facts had influenced him emotionally helped him to perceive the mission in a whole new light, and the more honest he became with her, the more honest he felt with himself. And when he'd reached the point where he'd talked out his lingering anger and returned to being emotionally balanced, _she_ became the one leading their conversations.

"...but then you know how Kiro-sensei always had that weird habit of chewing on weeds? Last Thursday one of his genin came in with his tongue all swollen and purple! Can you believe it? The kid said..."

Ino chattered on, recounting the amusing tale of Kiro-sensei's oddball students while swirling the tea leaves in her cup idly with a spoon, smiling softly. He watched her finish her cup and pick at the faux wood at the edge of the table as she launched into another tale of some acquaintance of hers, and though he'd spaced out and not heard a word of what she'd said, when she looked at him expectantly at the part where he was supposed to chuckle, he smiled back at her.

And just then Neji had another revelation.

**.**

**...**

**.**

Neji stood in the Hokage's office feeling vaguely uncomfortable, his eyes sliding over to the clock as he wondered if this impromptu summons would cause him to miss his appointment today. Before him, the Hokage sat silently in patience. Waiting. What for, Neji hadn't a clue, until the door opened behind him and in stepped none other than Yamanaka Ino. She came to stand beside him and bowed to their leader.

"Your report, Yamanaka?"

"Hyuuga Neji has successfully completed psychiatric evaluation, Hokage-sama. He has satisfactorily passed in the areas of interpersonal skills, emotional wellness, and overall stability. I declare his sanity to be intact."

He only half-listened to the short report, finding it strange now to be in the same room with her and not be drinking tea and watching her facial expressions change as she shared stories about her life. It takes a second to register to him that they will not be having that time today. And again it strikes Neji that he has missed something. Even in the time that Yamanaka Ino spent uselessly sharing gossip and everyday small talk with him, Neji was being tested and observed for any abnormal or excessive reactions. The face Ino wears here, in front of the leader of their village, is the same superficially but different by leaps and bounds comprehensively. The woman beside him is neither Ino the talkative flowergirl nor Ino the kind nurse but Ino the kunoichi, and he no longer thinks the three are easily the same person. If they are, then she is much, much better at her job as a kunoichi than he gave her credit for.

The Hokage's gaze shifted to him.

"Well done. I will re-assign you to active duty then, Neji. Enjoy the rest of your week; come Saturday I will have an assignment for you."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

He bowed, expecting to meet Ino's eyes as he turned to leave but the space beside him was empty.

**.**

**...**

**.**

He sees her again after what feels like forever, the pale shine of her hair catching his eyes like a beacon when he re-enters the village after a short mission in Suna. The suddenness of the moment makes his heart beat off rhythym and, briefly, he entertains the idea of inviting her for a cup of tea.

That changes when she laughs loudly, sincerely like the days they spent in the interrogation room, and for the first time he notices the person beside her and the arm slung low across her back.

Nara Shikamaru _really must be_ a genius if he can get the serious girl he last saw in the Hokage's office to laugh like _that_.

He quiets the stirrings in his chest. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, he contemplates how much of what transpired in those daily meetings had been real and how much had been illusion.


	3. Spotter

At twent-five years old, Yamanaka Ino was loathe to admit that she had never truly solo'd a single mission. Her occupational progression had veered off of the standard path of promotions, leaving many of her peers none too sure of how to address her. Since passing the chuunin exams, she'd seemed to have dabbled in a bit of everything: she studied medical ninjutsu for a year, trained under Morino Ibiki for three years, and then finally enlisted in AnBu. And yet even there, among the notorious ranks of masked shinobi, Ino had yet to complete a mission entirely on her own. It was not for lack of effort; in truth it was always _she_ who gathered all of the intel, _she_ who located the targets, _she _who made the kills. However, the simple fact of the matter was that Ino, quite literally, always had someone to watch her back.

S-rank assignments were handed to her regularly, as was the case with most AnBu, but she in particular had a knack for handling the most delicate of situations - situations in which there were often no Plan B strategy and no exit plan provided. And while her fellow tattooed peers received missions with fatality predictions lingering around 87 percent, Ino's own scrolls nearly always read 94. For this she was allowed certain amenities; most valuable among them being a Spotter. No matter where her mission had sent her, no matter what it was she had to do, there would always be another Konoha shinobi out there somewhere, watching. (Though where exactly, she never knew.) Such an arrangement was not unheard of; her own father had a Spotter for most of his career, but Ino was not her father. She was not a tall, intimidating man who'd grown up in the bloodshed of war. She was forever remembered as his cute little daughter who cared more for her figure than her training, and for this she would always have to be smarter, faster, _better_ than her comrades to earn fractions of respect. Yamanaka Ino was a perfectionist.

And for that reason, she was thoroughly infuriated the night her cover was blown to smithereens and she was forced to fight her way out. And she had every inclination to inform the Hokage of just how incensed she was.

.

...

.

"Who was it? And don't you lie to me, Uzumaki, I want to know **right fucking now** who it was!"

Naruto stared at the fuming blonde with heavy eyes, the blueness of them seeming faded from the constant demands of his position. On his desk, his hands clenched and uncurled in effort to maintain composure.

"I can't tell you that, Ino. You know that."

"The hell you can't! Don't give me that crap! I almost got my fucking neck sliced open because some sorry dipshit wasn't doing his job! Was it a rookie? It was, wasn't it? You sent some fledgling little canon fodder who thought it would be easy money. Should've sent the guy I had in Kusa. _He_ was flawless. Could hear the bodies dropping before I ever saw their faces. What, was that guy on vacation? Wait, don't tell me, he's had his fill of AnBu and he's going back to being a jounin? The good ones always quit. Smart bastards."

Naruto's face visably tightened, the whisker marks on his cheeks announcing his anger even as his eyes reflected immense sorrow.

"Enough, Ino."

" 'Enough' nothing! Goddamnit Naruto, I almost died!"

"And you **would be** dead if it weren't for him! Don't complain about things you don't know. He was my friend."

Ino's glare lessened, her sharp ears catching on a key word Naruto let slip.

"_Was_?"

"He didn't make it back. You _did_ have the Spotter from Kusa. You've had him every mission since the day you enlisted. We're not totally sure what happened, but we think there was an ambush. It looks like your cover was compromised way earlier than you think. Half of their military was coming after you. He could only hold the first waves."

The news took the remaining ire out of Ino and she stood there a moment, dumbstruck as guilt crept up on her. Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Look, you just had a mission that went to shit. You're stressed out. Don't even worry about the mission report, go home and unwind. I'll send for you about the details later."

Ino bowed out of habit, not in the least bit phased by the fact that she'd hurled curses and accusations at the Hokage in her rage, and quickly left the building. As she walked, she mentally caculated how many missions she'd been on since joining AnBu and made several sincere apologies to the person who'd kept her safe from a distance. Konoha most likely wouldn't even be able to recover his body, but she thought up flower arrangements for his nonexistant grave anyway.

On her way home, she passed several Hyuugas dressed in black.


	4. Reflection

Sky blue irises scanned the western horizon as Yamanaka Ino did her daily patrol along Iwagakure's boder. The sun was harsh and the wind dry, sucking the moisture right out of her skin and causing the platinum blonde to worry about premature aging for the 1000th time. Truth be told, she hated Iwa's standard issue uniform. The one sleeve she had was hot, the protective vest overtop her shirt was hotter, and the one arm exposed was getting sunburnt. The unevenness of her skirt irritated her in a way that only fashion disasters could - she'd much rather sport the men's loose pants, given the option - but Ino slapped some sunblock on her arm and legs for the twentieth time and tried to deal.

It wasn't a fun job, keeping a close watch on vast stretches of land, but the kunoichi did her best to devote her undivided attention to protecting the village. It was the least she could do after accepted her as a spirited but weak genin almost four years ago. It was the least she can do when they knew where she'd come from and generously spared her life. They gave her food, shelter, training, and even allowed her to join their military. She could never repay the debt of their kindness, not in total, but she could sure as hell try.

She bit into a pear as she settled on a high-resting rock and reached out with her senses, checking for human chakra signatures.

She nearly choked when she located one, moving switfly a ways from the lefthand side of her perch. Ino discarded her fruit and leapt into action, suppressing her own chakra as she raced to catch up with the unidentified human before they breached Iwagakure territory. Noting their path, she took a shortcut and headed them off, dropping down from a high plateau and startling the invader. Both of them froze, eyes locked in a tense stare as each waited for the other to make a move. It was a man, she immediately noted. Somewhat tall and built slender, with obsidian colored hair and the oddest pale eyes. Eyes that called to something in her, pulled at her memories.

Ino often tried to forget about her home before Iwagakure; the home that had been ravaged and since rotted from the inside out. It was painful to remember the faces of her parents, the voices of her friends, the strong cigarette scent of her master. Ever since she was thirteen and that awful man with the golden eyes conquered Konoha...she still had nightmares of the months she spent in fear and surrounded by bloodshed until the opprotunity presented itself to escape. Most of the shinobi she knew were dead by now, she was sure, and yet she could not let go of the memories from that happy time _before_. Ino blinked back the welling tears, reigning in her emotions as her voice rasped in her throat.

"You. You're...from Konoha. Aren't you?"

The dark haired main stiffly nodded once, and she watched as stray tendrils brushed the strange green marking on his forehead.

"I am."

He watched her eyes carefully. He scarely dared to breathe incorrectly, lest she deem him not worth the risk and try to kill him. She returned the look, hand still tight around her kunai, feet still braced to counter any sudden movements.

"But you're not with the snake, are you?"

An emotion flickered again in pools of blue. Hope? Dread?

"No."

She seemed relieved with that answer. Some of the tension in her body faded, but her voice remained flat. Just because he was from Konoha like her did not mean she could trust him nor could she neglect her duty as an Iwa shinobi. She was already bending the rules by talking to him; Iwagakure had strict rules that all foreigners be killed on sight.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, nor do I intend to do anything here. I am only passing through."

She analyzed his answer in her mind, examining his tone of voice, posture, chakra movements. It didn't seem he was lying to her. Although had he run into say, Kurotsuchi, it wouldn't matter if he were being truthful or not. His corpse would already be cooling by now. Ino wrestled with her conscience as she looked him over again, mentally documenting his condition and possible strength level. His face boasted excellent bone structure, but his lackluster skin spoke of many months, perhaps years, of not getting enough nutrition. The lilac semi-circles under his eyes told tales of sleepless nights. The eyes themselves steady and unreadable even as she stood in front of him poised to kill him. The eyes of a man who has stared death in the face too many times to fear it.

Kami, it could have been her. She could have been like him, had she not wandered into Rock Country as a frail girl barely in her teens.

She swallowed and blinked again, jawline tight, her mind questioning if she was doing the right thing while she lowered her weapon and relaxed her stance. Recollections of the days she spent running in fear from Fire Country played in the background of her mind.

"I'll let you go this time. It's a one-time deal. I ever see you around here again, you're dead. Understand?"

The man eased his stance as well, the large veins at the sides of his eyes flattening; a most peculiar sight.

"Thank you."

He dashed away on a less conspicuous path becoming first a blur, then nothing at all. She ignored the strange knot in the pit of her stomach as she watched him go. The rest of her day passed uneventfully, and as a young chuunin came to take her place and asked if all was normal, Ino only gave a slight tug on her hair as she lied and said it was _all wind and rock and mirages of genies as usual_. Her replacement laughed without batting an eye.

Thereafter, she looked for the pale eyed man from Konoha every time she patrolled. Even after years passed and the four great nations bonded together to take down Konoha and peace swept the lands, she looked for him. Alas, she never set eyes on the handsome traveller again.


	5. Counterbalance

She is done waiting.

It has been two weeks, four days and seventeen hours since a recovery team was sent after Uchiha Sasuke and returned home empty-handed; the last reported sighting of him being at the Valley of the End after a landscape-changing battle. It has been two weeks, four days and seventeen hours of alternating between crying her eyes out and trying to be strong for Sakura while _she_ cried _her_ eyes out. Two weeks, four days and seventeen hours of barely eating or sleeping, unable to stop thinking about him and unable to _stop thinking_. She is tired of wet cheeks, tired of the worried looks from her parents, tired of the unending chorus of Why repeating in her head, tired of the apologetic look Shikamaru keeps shooting her. She is not waiting, she realizes. Waiting is what you do when something's going to happen, when someone's going to return. She already knows that isn't going to happen; there are ugly gouges on Naruto's body that say so. She is not waiting, she is _wilting_.

And she will take it no more.

For the first time since she heard the news, she can feel something other than despair. Pushing up through the murky depths of grief, Ino can feel Anger. It's not her favorite emotion. She doesn't like herself when she's angry, she becomes everything she isn't : quiet, inattentive, cold. It is, however, still better than sorrow. Sadness is stillness, detachment, defeat. Anger is movement and determination, it gives her something to cling to and something to move toward. It sinks into her bones late one night, saturates her like a leaky ceiling wetting a carpet, and she is no longer simply awake but _alert_ again. And then her lucid brain is plotting.

She's up out of bed within the hour, darting back and forth across her room, shoving items into a knapsack. And then she is out the window.

She will find Uchiha Sasuke, either in Sound or on the way. She doesn't care that Naruto failed to do just that, fighting tooth and nail to force him back. She doesn't care that Sakura failed, a love confession on her lips, trying to change his mind. She will succeed where they have failed because all she has known of life is success and she will not fail now, even if for naught but sheer stubbornness. Nothing will change her mind.

"If you take another step away from the village, I'll be forced to stop you."

The voice behind her doesn't register immediately, and even once it does, it takes another moment for recognition to set in. Downwind of her stands Hyuuga Neji, face devoid of expression and a bandage still peeking under the neckline of his shirt. There is no humor, no coaxing, no reluctance in his voice. He is stating a fact. Ino finds that even worse than the stagnation of sorrow.

"Why do you care?"

She throws the question at him like a stone at his feet. There is no need for him here, this has nothing to do with him. This is about her and Sasuke and her needing Sasuke and possibly Sasuke needing her because apparently instead of sending chuunin or jounin after him Konoha has given him up. Quitting, after just one try, one failure. Sasuke doesn't need people who let him go so easily. Ino has already promised herself she will not come home unless he is beside her.

"Who do you think they will send to retrieve you when your absence is noted? I nearly gave my life two weeks ago to recover Sasuke. It is not an experience I would care to repeat."

His voice is different, just barely. A tone of condencention creeping in. The way he stands there with his limbs relaxed yet prepared for action is identical to her own stance. If she moves, so will he. It vaguely reminds her of Shikamaru's shadows.

"Well then, don't."

She means it. He knows. Something changes in his voice again, she thinks it might be incredulity. If it is, it doesn't reflect on his face.

"You would be willing to throw away your entire life here for him?"

She almost snorts.

"I'm willing to follow him to keep_ him_ from doing that."

As uninteresting as this little chat is, Ino has somewhere to be and someone to find. Who knows how far Sasuke could be from the village. Who knows how far Orochimaru's lair is or how dangerous it will be to get there. She cannot afford to waste any more time playing trivia with emotionally constipated Hyuugas. Her right foot takes one step forward.

Every tenketsu in her back is shut down before she can take another one. She crumples to the ground and Neji picks her up by the arm, sliding her onto his back. She is a very admirable person, he thinks. The kind the village needs. Strong mentally, even if she was lacking physically. It's slow going, wrapping his mind around the concept that weaklings can prevail, but if Naruto can improve then there's hope for the even the most mediocre shinobi to become invaluable. For that one, shining reason he will never let her leave.

...

He has kept her from pursuing the one person who means more to her than her own life. For that, Ino can never forgive him.


	6. Worthy

To his right, there are blades. A dozen or so Edo-Tensei shinobi wield glistening weapons of steel and charge at a dead sprint. To his left, there is an explosion of _suiton_* jutsu from a row of revived Kirigakure shinobi. Ahead, some allies battle with undead Sunagakure warriors and behind him, somewhere, is Hanabi-chan. The Kiri-nins seek to immobilize him; encrust him in ice and pick him off from there. The others wish to impale him. With a carefully directed Air Palm, Neji takes what little leeway he can and stakes his bet with the group of sword specialists, wading into their numbers. The Kiri-nins continue to attack and Neji dodges best he can, letting their waves knock away few of his armed foes. He twists and turns, dodging and striking to keep their numbers down, occasionally dislodging them with Rotations. He does good for himself, he thinks, until he sees the allies ahead of him fall and a wave of White Zetsu closing in. The dead do not hurt, do not lose their breath, do not tire.

He does.

But he cannot stop. Backup is still minutes away and a minute in battle is a lifetime. Dodge, strike, block.  
Strike, dodge, strike, strike-

A spear lodges into his collar, breaking the bone and all too close to both his neck and his heart for him write off as minor. The jagged bones moving under his flesh as he continues to fight are agonizingly sharp and worse yet, slowing him down. With the wisdom of being a seasoned jounin, Neji knows he will die without treatment.

_But he cannot stop._ So he does what he can do: there are Yamanakas sprinkled across the distance of the vast battlefield. All he has to do is call for help and they can send over someone from the medical division. He can only hope that person can find him in the chaos of war.

1

There are hundreds of voices swimming in her brain, some of them intentionally, some not. Ino acts as a conductor while she fights, directing messages and sending mental maps of the battlefield, stopping to rest at any spare moment. Every two hours, each Yamanaka on the field links up in a hive mind to construct a composite of who is doing what and where. It leaves her body vulnerable for the entire ten minute process. Rock lee covers one of her cousins a half a mile west of her location, and Shikamaru covers her. Two minutes after she returns from hive mind, Ino catches a distress call muddled in with some who have died too quickly to finish their cries for help. The voice is male, young, and Leaf by the familiarity of his voice.

She tries to pass the message on to Sakura and several other medics but all are too far away and precious time is spent finding one close enough to come. Ino finally gets a positive response from a medic native to Iwagakure. The downside, unfortunately, is that he is more skilled in saving lives than taking them. He'll need an escort. Leaving her body in Shikamaru's care, Ino jacks a body and readies her defense as she races to meet the medic. She makes it to less than a hundred feet away from him when Ino realizes that she has been tricked; that her page for medics was picked up by one of the few dead who have conscious thought.

With nobody else available, Ino realizes she'll have to respond to the call herself as a kunai impales her throat the same second she disconnects from her host.

2

His time is short.

The white of his shirt, first smeared with dirt and speckled with the blood of others is now drenched in his own. He is nothing of a medic but even he knows his pulse is dropping; his heart isn't beating nearly as hard as it was five minutes ago despite that fact that he is still moving and, if anything, it should be beating _harder_. Slowly but surely, his reactions are lagging and the circle of his enemies are closing in.

A sword cleaves into his left shin, and Neji goes down. The army of white Zetsu mix with what remain of the swordsmen and Kiri-nins and move on, some trampling over his limbs. His last thought is that, in the end, he has made no difference. The undead will reach Hanabi soon and he will die here, worthless. The entire shinobi world is in war and the chances of a medic being sent to someone as lowly as him are nonexistant.

3

Yamanaka Ino never makes the same mistake twice. A Shinranshin cannot be cast from any body other than hers, and from what she's already seen, Ino's going to need all of her famliy's jutsu at her disposal.

Even if that means risking death in her own body.

The shinobi world is allied for the first time in history and she would gladly risk her life for any person fighting for the living, but she'll be damned if she'll let any of the Konoha Eleven die. Not if she can help it.

With a quick mindlink to Shikamaru she lets him know she's going and just like that, Ino abandons her post. She weaves through bodies and battles in the straightest route to where she can sense Neji. His signature is faint, but there nonetheless and Ino locks onto it like a bullseye.

The swarm is even bigger. She can just makeout his body on the ground ahead and uses her birthright to turn some White Zetsu against the tide, but the human blockade won't hold forever. Closer up, the pool of Neji's blood is disturbingly big and Ino knows she will need a significant amount of time if she is going to save him - time she doesn't have but

_she can save him_. She has to believe she can.

She practically falls on her knees at his side, eyes roving over his body as her hands glow and she starts to work on staunching the bloodflow. There is bone jutting out of his skin, and bone takes even longer to mend than tissue.

Above, her possessed army of White Zetsu already grows thinner. Neji is so much worse off than she thought and even as good as she is at her jutsu, Ino knows she can't heal _and_ hold a multi-bodied Shinranshin at the same time. She decides she will heal what she can - get Neji well enough to stand up - and then make a run for it, hauling him with her. It's not much, but any plan is better than no plan.

First things first: she needs an intermediary to help close a wound of this size and severity. Almost anything organic will do, but in the barren lands of the battlefield, there is little organic life availble. Luckily, the best organic material (and easiest found) is human hair. Neji has loads of it to spare

or would. If not for all the blood staining it. The intermediary must be _pure._

Two undead make it through her White Zetsu barrier and Ino makes a split second decision that she'll use one hand to pitch senbon into their eyes, but they stop in their tracks before the needles leave her hand. She watches, one hand still healing, as shadow hands wind up their figures and snap their necks. Her head whips back to see Shikamaru a few feet away, a black pool of darkness at his feet and shadow hands stretching out in all directions.

"Heal him! I'll handle these."

Ino gets to work.

4

It takes a while for Neji to come around to consciousness and a little while longer to realize _he's alive_. His chest is moving and his heart is pumping and he's not dead. He musters the strength to open his eyes and finds himself on his back, staring up at wide blue sky. It is so clear, so endless, so peaceful...

A face appears suddenly, cutting off his view, and Neji forgets what exactly he was doing. It's a girl. A girl with fathomless blue eyes that rival the sky and slim features that somehow look familiar. She smiles at him when she notices he is lucid.

"Hey! Pretty close call, but I knew you were a fighter."

That voice, he knows that voice. He's heard it before, somewhere. No. Not 'somewhere', _nowhere_. He's heard it in his head. He tries to sit up, but she presses down gently on his chest and he's ashamed he isn't strong enough to sit up anyway. A second face pops into view, green eyes framed with pink.

"He's already up? Good work, Ino."

"I try, Forehead. I try."

_Ino?_ Yes, he remembers now; the familiar face is Yamanaka Ino. He hadn't recognized her with her short blonde hair barely gracing the tops of her shoulders.

"What happened to your hair?"

He sounds airy and weak but the words are strong enough to carry to her ears. Ino's smile transforms into a smirk.

"War calls for hard sacrifices sometimes but hey, I got to keep you alive and a fierce new haircut. I'd say it's a damn good trade. Don't try to die again before it grows back, else I'll have to shave Chouji and nobody will be happy."

How she can smile like that in the heat of war, Neji will never know, but he decides then and there that he fully intends to get to know Ino better.

"Deal."

By nightfall, Ino has checked on him so often that the other medics call him her favorite patient. The next day they move him to the tent for patients in recovery, much further away from the frontlines. He is just testing his strength by activating his Byakugan when he sees a massive ball of energy obliterate the critical care unit.

.

.

*water jutsu


	7. Visible

He owes his life to Haruno Sakura. The medic has returned him from oblivion, forcing life back into his body and air back into his stilled lungs. The gaping holes in his body are mostly shut but the newly mended musculature needs time to fortify. She checks on him in the mornings, tenderly dancing around the subject of his blank forehead and now sightless silver eyes. It's like she's afraid to tell him what he already knows: he's blind. His world has become a colorless, shapeless void of voices in the dark.

It makes him notice how heavily he relied on his sight. He can only identify his family and former teammates by voice; knowing Sakura due to her quiet self-introduction when he first woke. Many nurses trickle in and out of his room during the day and Neji quickly falls into the routine of ignoring them; none of them have anything significant to say and if he lays absolutely still, none can tell he's awake anyway. He speaks to Hinata, Lee, and Tenten when they visit but they all seem to be so grateful for his survival that they fail to see the tragedy of being blind in a clan renowned for their eyesight. His pride is gone, future bleak, and past made inconsequential now.

There are days he wishes he'd remained dead.

He gets a visitor one day, not long after the evening nurse changes his bandages. Their footsteps are light _(shinobi, _his instincts tell him_)_ and his nose indicates that they've brought a bouquet. They hesitate at the foot of the bed, then come along the side, settling in the chair on his right. Tentative fingers curl around his hand to hold it. _Female, _his brain again supplies_._ Minutes pass without a sound and Neji doesn't quite know what to make of his present company. He knows how to react to noise - years on a team with Gai and Lee have made him an expert at handling noisy people. He doesn't know what to do with silence.

Her voice breaks the air abruptly.

"It's not that bad, having your sight lost. It's awful now - it's new and troublesome - but I promise it won't be so bad forever. Take it from me, looks are just a distraction. There's so much more to the world that people never see. The Shintenshin is one of the hardest jutsu to perfect because once you leave your body, nothing looks the same. Signs blur, plants glow, and people don't always look the way they're supposed to. Especially inside of people's minds. A person - a kid, even - can be this little scrawny guy on the outside and this huge warrior on the inside. The soul reflects the nature of the person. Unfortunately, it's not like a whole bunch of people can see into each other's souls. The whole world might as well be blind."

_A Yamanaka, _he concludes. _Female, shinobi, Yamanaka. _It's Ino. The vainest girl in the shinobi world is giving him a pep talk on inner beauty. Neji seethes, and Ino continues.

"Whether you stay a shinobi or not, whether you ever see again or not, I think what you did for Hinata and Naruto was a noble move. You have a beautiful soul."

His willpower snaps. He does not need her pity and he certainly doesn't need her bullshit. Beautiful soul! What good is a beautiful soul to him? Will it put food on his plate? Will it bring honor to his clan name?  
Does he look like some charity case to her? Or worse, does he look to her like a formerly grand heartthrob, now ruined with useless eyes?

"Save your words. I don't need consolation from someone who prides themself on appearence."

He hears her breath catch in surprise, she had been fooled by his 'play asleep' routine. Her hand uncurls from his and slips away. He hears the light rustle of her clothes as she stands.

"Yeah, I guess you don't."

The door closes with a quiet click as she leaves. Outside his door, Ino rubs at the shoulder where her right arm used to be.


End file.
